Using Philosophical and Economic analysis to consider big questions, world issues and matters of everyday life!

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

Why Brits Would Probably Be Better Off If UK Nations Split & Became Independent

A couple of weeks ago I
created a poll asking if readers thought the nations of the UK would be better
off if the UK split up or remained together. As expected, an overwhelming
majority thought it would be better if the UK stayed together.

I'm not so sure - by which
I mean I'm pretty confident that there'd be more positives to a split than
negatives. If you went away and wrote a list of all the things you like about
the UK
and all the things you dislike, here's what I think you'd find. Just about
everything you like would still be equally liked and appreciated if England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had been separate, independent countries
all along, whereas some of the things you dislike would have been rectified if
the four countries were not part of a United Kingdom.

Roll off some of the
things you like about the UK - the literature, the scenery, the tolerance, the
fish and chips, the lakes, the coastal attractions, the music, the films, the
comedy, the pasties and the history, and you'll probably find they are tied to
a concept of a United Kingdom far less than you think.

With Brexit and the very
real possibility that Scotland
could become independent in the near future, the splitting up of the UK is a distinct
possibility. I'm now going to explain why after the initial upheaval this would
be the best thing for the people of England,
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. To begin to see
why, have a look at this:

As you can see from the
image above, the United States, the world's largest economy, accounts for
approximately 25% of nominal world GDP, and the seven largest economies (if you
include the European Union economies as one) account for 75% of the total.

However, there is a difference
between GDP and GDP per capita. GDP is the total economic output of a country -
that is, the amount of money a country makes. GDP per capita, however, is the
total output of a country divided by the number of people in the population,
which measures the average amount of money each person makes.

The leading countries in GDP
per capita - countries like Qatar,
Luxembourg, Macau,
Liechtenstein, Singapore, Bermuda, Isle of
Man, Ireland, Switzerland, Norway
and Hong Kong - have two very interesting commonalities.
Number one, they are relatively small countries, and number two, they are all
by and large the highest scorers on the Human
Freedom Index. That is to say, once you have in place essential things like
a stable society with human rights, property rights and a proficient rule of
law, the two most important factors in having a high GDP per person is that the
country is small and that it has economic freedom to enable market forces to do
their work.

There is a very noticeable
pattern regarding these small countries that top the league for GDP per capita
- they each have a state that interferes minimally in their economies. Even
when the politicians exude bossiness and heavy cultural shepherding, they
usually interfere in the economic transactions of their citizens very lightly:
they don't have minimum wage laws, nor a big public sector, nor do they
interfere very much in the freedom of contract between buyers and sellers, and employers
and employees.

In the past few decades
the median (real) income of these small, laissez faire nations has gone up by
30, 40, sometimes even 50 percent - and conversely, the nations that have
adopted the opposite approach have continued to be many of the world's poorest
countries.

What does all that have to
do with the United Kingdom,
you may ask? Well firstly, the main benefits of a smaller nation are benefits
that would diminish a lot of the so-called societal problems that make up present
day Britain.
For example, the smaller the nation the smaller the state, and the more
accountable it is to the population it governs. There is more transparency and
more competition, the success of laws and regulations are easier to evaluate, and
the efficiency relative to neighbouring countries can be more easily observed.

Let us suppose that England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland
became completely independent nations with their own elected governments, their
own exclusive set of laws and regulations, and their own financial autonomy. A
few years down the line, England and Northern Ireland have pursued more liberal
economic policies, lower taxes, lighter regulations and more personal freedom,
whereas Scotland and Wales have tried to pursue their socialist agendas resulting
in failing economies and social unease.

At election time, voters
will have a more transparent perspective of how different national preferences
yield different results, with the Scottish and Welsh governments being held
more accountable for their dismal performances, and the public being able to
look over the borders and assess which policies or freedoms are working for the
betterment of the English and Northern Irish citizens.

Because competition, remember, is the biggest driver of innovation and progress, and the most efficient expunger of waste and failure in the world. It works in the trading of goods and services, in ideas and innovations, in technological advancements, and it can work at the level of nation states and their comparable policies and systems of governance too.

Split the union, and as long as each nation has its own elected government, its own exclusive set of laws and regulations, and its own financial autonomy, you'll see competition doing its work, and eventually all four nations will rise in quality because of it.

About Me

This is the Blog of James Knight - a keen philosophical commentator on many subjects.
My primary areas of interest are: philosophy, economics, politics, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, theology, psychology, history, the arts and social commentary.
I also contribute articles to the Adam Smith Institute and the Institute of Economics Affairs.
Hope you enjoy this blog! Always happy to hear from old friends and new!
Email:j.knight423@btinternet.com